They say people with cats live longer and I can see why, I love sitting with my cat. During the day we don't get time with the chaos of the boys, and i'm sure the cat looks at me as if to say when are they going to bed or with sympathy when they're screaming.
So when it's quiet and they boys are in bed I make the most of peace and sit in silence with the cat. I know that sounds sad! But I don't care.

Thursday, 31 October 2013

I spent a day with Thomas on his own which was lovely, we did fun things like go to the pier, go to the arcade, pick pebbles from the beach and Thomas went on the merry go round. Each time he passed me he shouted either "hello" or "here is your parcel" So pleased he had a great time.

A half term idea. Jelly worms. I poured jelly into straws, chilled until it was set then brought them out of the fridge and squeezed them out. It was trickier than I had imagined and did give up after a while but Thomas thought it was great and enjoyed sucking the worms up.

Cod cooked in milk, with cheese on top, peas and home made chips. The boys love the chips and I feel happier knowing that I have made them. So easy, I just peel baking potatoes, chop them up, boil for 6 minutes, spread on a baking tray and brush with oil (or for us I spray with frylight) then put in the oven 190 degrees for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of them.

The cod didn't go down as well as I would have hoped but we will get there. Thomas ate a bit more after I said it would make him more intellegent.

To get in the Halloween spirit we carved pumpkins. The hubby did one and I did the other, the Spiderman one. I was quite pleased with it considering I am not very arty. We left them outside to let trick or treaters know they are welcome. A few years ago we wouldn't have wanted trick or treaters but since having children I like to join in. We haven't taken the boys trick or treating yet but next year we will, when they are a bit older and can enjoy it more. Thomas was a bit concerned when I told him that people may come to the door dressed up. He said he wanted to go to bed so it took a bit of reassurance from me - very sweet. I thought it was best to warn him in case he answered the door and saw a skeleton there or someone with an axe.

Home made chicken curry, rice and naan bread. The kids loved it. It isn't often that they clear their plate but they do when they have this for dinner.

I marinate the chicken in full fat natural yogurt, curry powder and garam masala, then fry the chicken with onions and when chicken is cooked add half a tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, a dollop of mango chutney and simmer for approx 30 mins. I make a batch then freeze it.

One Sunday we decided to get some nibbly bits for all of us to eat for lunch time. It was really tasty and the boys enjoyed picking their own lunch. It also felt a bit healthy having salad bits too. We enjoyed cucumber, avocado, sun dried tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, feta cheese, salami, prosciutto, pitta.

One of my favourite times of the day is when I sit down after the kids are in bed - normally the channel is on CBeebies so I have great delight in turning it over to my channel and sit down to relax for a bit of "me" time. I know that might sound a bit wrong but I give my all to the kids during the day so look forward to a couple of hours before bed doing my own stuff, even if that is just cleaning the house in my own time with no interruptions.

It was his idea
and I decided to make the pastry from scratch to save buying it as I had all
the ingredients. I forgot how time consuming it was with all the kneading then
putting in the fridge etc. I felt a sense of achievement but it would have been
a lot easier and let’s face it it would have also tasted better with readymade
pastry. I think I will have to practice on mine, it was a bit dry :-(

He enjoyed them though and took one to his first day back at preschool. ﻿

I got a new Slimming World magazine and after over indulging during our birthdays I thought it was about time i ate better so chose a few recipes and decided to go shopping and give it a whirl. Here are the photos of my attempt then the magaine photo.

I made tomato soup with basil which had a great flavour and even my hubby and 1 year old loved it.

I also made chicken Kiev’s, chips and added peas (I didn’t make these) This was trickier because I had to put together the chicken with the mixture in the middle then put it in the fridge for 15 mins, then do the coating and put in the fridge for another 15 mins then fry for a couple of minutes then bake so it was a little fiddly but well worth it and I imagine if I wasn’t making everything else it wouldn’t be so stressful and time consuming. I also made a full fat version for the boys so we could all eat together.

As I am working tomorrow I prepared dinner today in the form of beef casserole in a red wine sauce. This smelt delicious and cooked for 5 hours slowly in the oven so the meat is tender and the sauce is really thick, I must admit I did have to do quite a big taste test to check it was ok ;-) So when I get back from work I will just pop a little in the microwave for the boys then reheat mine and my hubbys later when they have gone to bed and we can actually relax and enjoy our food. Of course it was lovely to eat as a family this evening but it is never as relaxing as eating on our own.

Winter is coming and I love making hearty stews and casseroles. I enjoy looking through cooking magazines and getting ideas, it is just hard finding the time and energy to actually make things.

I used to think it was expensive to make a casserole or a roast but actually when I work out the cost and divide it by four of us it is the equivalent of a readymade sandwich so not bad for a homemade healthy meal. ﻿

We haven't done too much to the house since we moved in 5 years ago, we have decorated but I wanted to change it a little so decided to do a feature wall. Hubby helped me pick the wall paper and because we don't have much spare time with me working most weekends and having both the boys to look after my amazing Dad offered to help out and paper the wall one day when we were out.

It was really nice to walk in and see the new wallpaper and it has made such a difference to the appearance of the room.

One morning after celebrating our birthdays I was a little "jaded" so my hubby went out with the boys first thing in the morning and got me a McDonalds breakfast. It was just what I needed after a night out, perfect. With the help of lots of pepsi, crisps and chocolate I felt better by the evening.

For my birthday my team at work bought me some tupperware because I love my tupperware. I have so many of them. I keep everything, every bit of leftover food I put in there for later, I must admit quite a lot of the time it does end up in the bin but sometimes it gets used so I would rather keep it in case.

So in keeping with my healthy eating I had lettuce at the bottom, beetroot, salad cream and ham.

We celebrated my hubby's birthday by going for an Indian at our favourite Indian restaurant. It was nice to go there rather than having a take away. The food was delicious although too much so we ended up taking a "doggy bag" home.

Here I am having fun with my boys. Rather than tidying up after dinner I decided to join them playing in the garden and actually had lots of fun. I even managed to go down the slide (although I did have to lift myself over the slide handles as my hips wouldn't fit - that's because I had both the boys naturally :-) )

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Welcome to 'Jo's World' - A place where I share stories about my day to day life. Many of these are inspired by my son's, Thomas and Lucas. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy telling them and if they make you smile that is even better!